Preview: Santa Clara vs. Nacional - prediction, team news, lineups

In one of two all-second tier encounters in this stage of the competition, there is nothing to separate the two on the league front, as they are level on points in the top three.

Match preview

After six straight wins and no defeats in 90 minutes all season, Santa Clara have hit a slightly bumpy run of form recently.

A 0-0 draw at Belenenses to end 2023 was not an awful result by any means, but they followed it up by somehow losing 1-0 to Mafra in a game they dominated.

It was a 93rd-minute smash-and-grab goal that stole all three points for the visitors at the weekend, as Santa Clara out-shot their opponents 18 to two, but remarkably left empty-handed.

Manager Vasco Matos will hope his side can return to form by replicating their performance from the 2020-21 season when they made it to the quarter-finals of the Taca de Portugal.

This is the fourth time they have reached the last 16 since 2018, but defeats to Moreirense and Porto ended their hopes in their first two appearances.

However, the Azoreans exacted revenge on Moreirense by beating them in 2021, to set up a quarter-final tie with Braga, but they were beaten by the eventual winners.

Home advantage and a supreme recent record against Nacional will see Santa Clara go into the game as favourites, as they are unbeaten in seven meetings, including a four-game winning streak between 2018 and 2022.

With nothing to separate the sides in the league, there was also little between them when they met in the league back in November, as the spoils were shared in a 1-1 draw.

Nacional are a rare anomaly in Portuguese professional football in that they are a free-flowing, goal-hungry outfit, averaging over two goals-per-game so far this season.

They were held at home by Tondela in their first game of 2024, but that saw them gain ground as they were the only side in the top three not to lose at the weekend.

That draw extended a run of just one defeat in 14 league games, with that solitary loss coming in a game where they played with 10 men for most of the second half against Benfica B.

Despite not being one of the heavyweights of Portuguese football, Nacional do have decent pedigree in this competition, as they have been semi-finalists on four occasions in the past 14 years.

Braga thrashed them 7-2 on aggregate in last year's semis though, as Sporting (twice) and Pacos Ferreira have also denied them a place in a major final.

Santa Clara Taca de Portugal form:

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Santa Clara form (all competitions):

Nacional Taca de Portugal form:

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Nacional form (all competitions):

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Team News

Santa Clara have been heavily changed for their cup games so far this season, and Matos may rotate again with one eye on their promotion push.

Top scorer Bruno Almeida has been one of the many first-team players given a rest in the cup competitions, and he did not start in the previous round against Elvas.

Substitute goalkeeper Marcos Diaz is set to come in given their cup rotation between the sticks, replacing regular starter Gabriel Batista.

Nacional will be without one of their key performers for the next few weeks, as Witi is away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Mozambique.

Like their opponents, Nacional have also opted to rotate, and were heavily changed in beating Primeira Liga side Casa Pia in the last round, so they could field a similar side.

That may see Jesus Ramirez drop to the bench despite his excellent recent form that included a hat-trick in a 3-2 win at Porto B, which took his tally to nine this season for the Atletico Morelia loanee.

Santa Clara possible starting lineup:

Diaz; Lucas Soares, Velazquez, Pedro Pacheco, Paulo Henrique; Gustavo Klismahn, Eduardo Ageu, Ricardinho; Andrezinho, Joao Marcos, Vinicius Lopes

Nacional possible starting lineup:

Lucas Franca; Joao Aurelio, Paulo Vitor, Jordi Pola, Jose Gomes; Andre Sousa, Luis Esteves, Jota Garces; Dudu, Carlos Daniel, Ruben Macedo

We say: Santa Clara 2-1 Nacional

Suffering their first home defeat in near-eight months at the weekend was almost certainly a minor blip given their dominance of the match, so Santa Clara should be confident of returning to winning ways despite the quality of their opponents.

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